CCIE Data Center

 CCIE Data Center Written Exam

400-151 CCIE Data Center

The Cisco CCIE Data Center Written Exam (400-151) certifies expert-level skills to plan, design, implement, operate, and troubleshoot complex Data Center infrastructure. It accesses the ability to understand the requirements of Data Centers, how different components in the Data Center interoperate, and ability to translate it into the device configurations.

The Cisco CCIE Data Center Lab Exam is an eight-hour, hands-on exam which requires a candidate to configure, diagnose, and troubleshoot a series of complex Data Center scenarios for a given specification. Knowledge of troubleshooting is an important skill and candidates are expected to diagnose and solve issues as part of the CCIE lab exam.

An Evolving Technologies section is included in the Written exam only. It will enable candidates to bridge their core technology expertise with knowledge of the evolving technologies that are being adopted at an accelerated pace, such as cloud, IoT, and network programmability.

It has been recalibrated and will consist of three subdomains and a total of five tasks for which the expected depth of knowledge will be focused on conceptual comprehension. The Evolving Technologies section will account for 10 per cent of the total score while the remaining core technologies will account for 90 per cent.

CCIE Data Center Lab Exam

CCIE Data Center Lab is a two-part eight-hour timed exam that tests the candidate’s skills in diagnosing, configuring and troubleshooting a complex data center topology. Knowledge of configuration and troubleshooting are important skills and candidates are expected to configure and troubleshoot issues as part of the CCIE Data Center Lab Exam.

CCIE Data Center unifies written and lab exam topics documents into a unique curriculum, while explicitly disclosing which domains pertain to which exam, and the relative weight of each domain.

The two parts to the eight-hour lab exam are to be taken in sequence during the day of the exam starting with Part 1, followed by Part 2 are:

Part 1: Diagnostic module (one hour) written

Candidates are provided various pieces of information similar to information that is provided to a Data Center support engineer that is assisting a customer finding the root cause of an issue, and similar to information that is provided by someone who is stuck troubleshooting an issue. No device access is in this module.

The module includes multiple-choice, drag-and-drop style items, and point-and-click style items. The Diagnostic module (called troubleshoot tickets) contain a set of documents that the candidate consults in order to be able to understand and identify the root cause of the issue presented. Candidates analyze and correlate information in order to diagnose among the pre-defined options provided.

Part 2: Configuration & Troubleshooting module (seven hours) hands-on

The Configuration and Troubleshooting module tests hands-on practical capabilities. It consists of various scenarios based on one topology. At the beginning of the module, the candidate has a full overview of the entire module; and can make a choice of working on items in a sequence or not. Candidates are not allowed to go back and forth between modules during the exam.

Lab Environment

Cisco documentation is available on-line during the exam, however knowledge of the more common protocols and technologies is assumed. The documentation can only be navigated using the index, as the search function has been disabled. No outside reference materials are permitted in the lab room. You must report any suspected equipment issues to the proctor during the exam; adjustments cannot be made once the exam is over.

Lab Exam Grading

Each question on the lab has specific criterion. The labs are graded by proctors who ensure all the criterion are met and points are awarded accordingly. The proctors use automatic tools to gather information from the routers to perform some preliminary evaluations, but the final determination of a correct or incorrect configuration is done by a trained proctor.

In order to pass the Lab exam, the candidate must meet both the following conditions:

•  The minimum cut-score of each individual module must be achieved.
•  The total score of both modules together must be higher as the minimum value of the combined cut-score.

The reason for these criteria is to prevent a candidate from passing the Lab exam while failing or even bypassing one of the two modules.

The point value(s) of each item in both modules is known to the candidate. Note points are only granted when all requirements and sometimes restrictions of the item are met. There is no partial scoring for any items.

Results Candidates can review your lab exam results online (login required), usually within 48 hours. Results are Pass/Fail and failing score reports indicate major topic areas where additional study and preparation may be useful.